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I'm an Academic Herald. I'm not a "real" herald; I don't design and register people's coats of arms (though I can certainly suggest designs for those who might be interested). What I do is study, research, teach, and write about heraldry. (You can find some of my books about heraldry and a list of my articles and presentations about heraldry at "Our Website" below.) And I like to share what I have learned about heraldry, hence this blog. I hope that you'll find it informative, interesting at least occasionally, and worth your time to come back. Got a question? Comments? Feel free to ask or let me know. I'd love to hear from you. You can find my contact information in my Profile.

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Thursday, May 26, 2011

You'd Think That Somebody Would Have Remembered

The March 18, 2011 article is probably best summed up not so much by it's headline ("Letchworth’s £10,000 coat of arms is ready - but ‘it’s a mystery’ says council chairman") but rather by the synopsis that is it's first paragraph:

A town council has taken delivery of a coat of arms costing almost £10,000 which it says it has no use for.

The Letchworth Garden City Council was contacted by the College of Arms about a coat of arms, which they had ordered and paid a pretty penny for, that was ready but for which no one had made arrangements to collect. This apparently came as a big surprise to the council members, since no one can find the paperwork authorizing the expenditure (£9,975, or about US$17,000).

It doesn't help that the council is expected to be abolished in the next four years.